May 16th: The National Guard was deployed in Berkeley, tasked with maintaining the perimeter of People's Park and quelling any disturbances with roving foot patrols. Several marches and demonstrations were attempted by park supporters in the days following, but were quickly quelled and multiple people arrested.
May 19th: 25-year old James Rector, a bystander in the Bloody Thursday riot, died of his wounds sustained during that conflict.
May 20th: UC Berkeley faculty held a vigil for James Rector in Sproul Plaza, and the gathering swelled to over 3000 participants. When the crowd attempted to march through the city, the campus was sealed off by law enforcement and a National Guard helicopter sprayed tear gas over Sproul Plaza. Its cloud spread to residential and business districts in Berkeley, affecting schools and hospitals as well.
May 22nd: At UC Berkeley, a student referendum on People’s Park was held on May 22, and 85% voted to preserve the community space. A subsequent march through Berkeley resulted in a mass arrest of over 450 people.
May 23rd: UC Berkeley's Academic Senate voted 642 to 95 for the immediate removal of the troops from Berkeley, the dismantling of the fence surrounding People’s Park, and the continuation of the community-based Park.
May 29th: The Berkeley City Council voted 5-4 to offer to lease the plot from campus.
May 30th: On Memorial Day, over 25,000 people peacefully march in Berkeley in support of the Park.
May 31st: After rebuffing numerous earlier proposals for People's Park, UC Berkeley Chancellor Roger Heyns publicly backs the City Of Berkley's offer to lease the Park, a move that is strongly supported by students, faculty, and local residents.
June 1969
June 2nd: Reassured by the peaceful Memorial Day march, Governor Reagan ends the state of extreme emergency and withdraws the National Guard from Berkeley.
June 20th: Despite enormous support and multiple proposals to ensure the existence of the Park, campus officials remained unswayed. The UC Board of Regents voted to build a playing field and parking lot on the site, specifically denying its use as a community park.
![[Image of policemen lounging on the playground built in People's Park.] A different type of invader was at play this morning in People's Park. - Examiner photo by Seymour Snaer. Thurs., May 15, 1969. It used to be a playground ... now it's a pig sty! The city and the university are afraid the message of People's Park will spread. They are afraid that people in the community will take over BART land and build low cost housing or take over condemned empty buildings and use them for day care centers. That is exactly what should be done with the vacant land and abandoned buildings in this city. These properties should be used to meet the needs of the people of the community-needs for free recreation, free day care and inexpensive housing for the people. The Park was the first step. The troops, the police, the guns, the shootings are an attempt to stop it. Anonymous Berkeley leaflet-May 17.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/255330/images/pp18.jpg)
![Join the struggle for the People's Park. Come to Berkeley Friday May 30, Memorial Day. We will march to our park--to the People's Park. We will demand that the fence come down. [Image of people working the ground in People's Park.] We built a Park. Heyns, Reagan, and Madigan put up a fence. The Park was beautiful and free so they killed to destroy it. Private property in America is a God and the pigs are its armed priests. The University was satisfied with a swamp; the people of Berkeley built a beautiful park. Helicopters, Bayonets, and shotguns were brought in to tear up the grass and rebuild Heyns' private swamp. We are fighting to return our park to the control of the people in the community, the people who built it. Reagan and Madigan fear people who fight back. The black movement, the students movement, the anti-war movement have begun to resurrect the great American tradition of fighting back. Our fight is spreading and we will continue it. Come to the march. The people of Berkeley are outraged and demand an end to the incredible terrorism of the reckless professional politicians who control state and police power. We are marching to demand: 1. The fence must come down. 2. The police must be disarmed. 3. The national guard must go home. 4. All charges against demonstrators must be dropped. 5. Reparations must be paid to the injured. 6. The police criminals and their generals must be brought to justice.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/255330/images/pp15.jpg)
